Seventy-five years ago today, playwright Howard E. Koch had less than a week to write the script for the next episode of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre on the Air. Producer John Houseman had given him the assignment: Dramatize H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds as a radio play. Koch knew he would have to … Continue reading Return to the Scene of the Martian Invasion→

To no one's surprise, the highest-grossing movie this weekend was Marvel Studios' The Avengers, which brought in over $200 million in the U.S. While nothing is ever certain in Hollywood -- even a big-budget, effects-laden production can underperform (as Marvel parent Disney found out with John Carter) -- The Avengers seemed destined to generate a box … Continue reading Media Marketing and the Evolution of Narrative Structure→

Content Farms, Echo Sites, and the Future of Online Content Investors today snapped up shares of Demand Media, whose IPO gave the company a valuation of close to $2 billion -- more than that of the New York Times Co. Demand Media is a prime example of a new kind of media entity, one made … Continue reading Soylent Green is Content→

In "The Hulu Effect at Fox TV? Less is More in TV Advertising" last December, I observed that Fox television appeared to be following the lead of online video services like Hulu in running fewer ads per show. By having shorter commercial breaks -- and communicating at the outset that the program would, for example, … Continue reading Maybe More Really is More in TV Advertising→

"Little-Known Redbox Proves the Power of In-Between Technology" in the current issue of Fast Company describes the rapid rise of video rental kiosk vendor Redbox. As indicated by the title, the article underscores how Redbox has succeeded using "in-between" technology, focusing on what works now rather than chasing the latest vision of the high-tech future: … Continue reading Battle of the In-Betweens: Redbox and Netflix→

As IMAX Screens Get Smaller, the Competition is Getting Bigger As noted previously, IMAX is extending -- some would say blurring -- the IMAX brand by retrofitting existing multiplex theaters with larger screens and upgraded sound systems. The Wall Street Journal reports that competitors are moving into the territory of what might be termed "low-end … Continue reading IMAX Brand Blur→